Mulards are hybrids of Muscovy and Pekin ducks, as well as a number of other representatives of domestic waterfowl. The resulting individuals are distinguished by good health and excellent characteristics, due to which they are actively bred on farms and in households. To get the most out of it, you need to know what to feed mulard ducks at home for rapid growth and effective weight gain.
What can you feed mulards?
Mulards are sterile hybrids, but they are distinguished by exceptionally fast growth, therefore they are extremely profitable for raising females for meat, and males for foie gras production. Mulard ducks are gradually replacing geese, which are fattened to produce fatty livers, but for rapid weight gain and liver enlargement, proper, balanced nutrition is necessary.
From the first days
In the first 24 hours after hatching from the eggs, mulard ducklings are left in the nest to dry and strengthen. Day-old chicks need to be fed every two hours. This regime will continue for the first five days. First, they give you a hard-boiled egg, finely chopped, as well as crumbly millet porridge. It is best to feed small mulard ducklings against a dark background, scattering food in small portions - the chicks react to movement, and at first their reactions are weak, they may not even notice the food at first.
Mulard ducklings have a well-developed herd instinct and the desire to copy, so they will quickly figure out what to do based on the behavior of their more intelligent brothers. Already on the third day, the chicks are able to eat fresh greens, so they are given it in chopped form or they are released to graze on the grass. Mulard ducklings need to be monitored by placing them in an aviary or fence - the babies can be dragged away by weasels, wild cats or even birds of prey - crows, hawks, eagle owls. At night they should be placed in a warm, dry place.
From one week
Week-old Mulard ducklings are fed wet mash of crushed grain: 2 parts corn plus 1 part wheat. You need to add fish or meat and bone meal to the mixture. Chicks should always have clean drinking water and it should be changed regularly. And the feed is given as much as the mulard ducklings can eat at one time, because they will stain or trample the excess, and this provokes diseases.
Two week old ducklings
At this age, the chicks eat everything, and they can already be released with adult birds to a pond - natural or artificial. The basis of their diet is a mash of crushed grains, mainly corn, but it also includes other grains.
It is important that the diet is balanced and contains sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals. To do this, mulard ducklings are given chalk, crushed shells and shell rock, as well as green food. It can be grass, chopped dill, tops, vegetables.
Feeding adult birds for rapid growth
Three-week-old Mulard ducklings can be fed three times a day by adding grass to their food in large quantities.
Cottage cheese and milk waste are gradually introduced into the diet, and month-old chicks are fed with mixed feed with the addition of greens, food and garden leftovers, skim milk, and so on, not forgetting about minerals and vitamins, introducing sand and bone and fish meal.
Adult Mulard ducks graze actively, but plant food alone will not be enough for rapid weight gain. Fattened poultry must be provided with grain, not necessarily whole grain. Shreds, bran, cakes and other grain waste go well.
Features of the diet by season
In winter and spring, before the active growth of grass begins, it is difficult for mulard chicks to provide fresh greens, so the basis of the diet at this time of year is grain-based mash, mixed feed and preparations made in the summer. It is necessary to ensure that the food is not just plentiful, but balanced.
Although mulards do not tend to accumulate fat in the early period, excessive calorie content in the absence of grass and other plant foods can still cause obesity, which will spoil duck meat and reduce its quality and cost.
In summer, mulard ducks should receive as much greenery as possible. Like all waterfowl, they are passionate about algae and duckweed, so, if possible, they should be released into the pond or collected this useful food. It is necessary for rapid weight gain, as are other fresh vegetables, calcium, mineral supplements and vitamins.
How to feed?
For Mulard ducks to grow quickly, they need proper care and nutritious, balanced food. But it is not enough just to know what food to give to mulards. There are rules that must be strictly followed:
- Small ducklings must be fed wet mash.
- The food is removed after eating so that the bird does not litter it.
- The feeder is needed so that the mulards do not interfere with each other.
- Mineral additives - chalk, shell, limestone, crushed egg shells - must be placed in a separate container and changed regularly.
- There should be water constantly, but it also needs to be replaced with fresh water often, since mulards get very dirty.
- Ducks need grass and greens, so they are not only added to the food, but the birds are also allowed to go out for a walk.
- In addition to grain and grass, vegetables and table scraps, mulards are fed protein products: cottage cheese, dairy and boiled meat waste, meat-bone and fish meal.
- Duckweed is the favorite food of mulards and other ducks, but you can gain weight only if you use high-quality feed.
To fatten mulard ducks, you can use specialized feed or reduce the cost of food if you create mixtures yourself, according to existing recipes, or by following the advice of experienced poultry farmers.
What not to give to mulards
If you are unpretentious in food, Mulard ducks should not eat the following foods:
- Poisonous plants, such as celandine or henbane. When free-ranging, you need to monitor what grows in the area.
- Maple leaves are toxic to ducks.
- Fresh rye. Only mature grain can be fed.
- Raw nettle (adult plants) can burn the esophagus of mulards, so the grass is first scalded with boiling water and crushed.
- Fresh whole milk quickly turns sour and can lead to poisoning in ducklings and adult ducks.
- Flour and grain are ground into dust. Such products turn into dough that clogs the mullards' nostrils and beak.
- Stale food that is moldy, sour or fermented.
- Human food with salt, sugar, seasonings and spices.
Beginning poultry farmers are often interested in Is it possible to give green onions to mulard ducks?. It is necessary, it is useful for chicks and adult birds. The onion is chopped and given as part of the mash, and small ducklings are added to the chopped egg. This strengthens the immune system and prevents the development of a number of diseases.
